The crisis of Mike D'Antoni's Los Angeles Lakers continues during the NBA night, defeated at home by Danilo Gallinari and Kyle Lawson's Denver Nuggets and ever further away from the playoff zone. The Miami Heat (over the derelict Washington Wizards) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (over the Toronto Raptors without Andrea Bargnani) easily win.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets 105-112
Game almost always under control for Denver, which must, however, resist the Los Angeles comeback led by the usually amazing Kobe Bryant in the final, author of 29 points. For the Lakers, in addition to Kobe's great performance, Howard's 26 rebounds (a career high equaled) and Steve Nash's 11 points with 13 assists are not enough.
The team coached by Mike D'Antoni, in fact, rings the third consecutive knockout. The yellow-purples seem far from squaring the circle and continue to defend little and badly and rely on the initiatives of individuals. Therefore, not even a Kobe in great shape, author of yet another great performance of a fantastic season on an individual level, cannot be enough.
For the Nuggets great performance by Kyle Lawson and Andrè Miller, both in double points-assists. Good contribution also from Javale McGee (17 points off the bench) and "our" Danilo Gallinari, who, as too often happens to him, doesn't shoot very well from the field (6 out of 20), but still scores 20 points and, above all, he doesn't tremble in the decisive moment, slipping, after a daring rebound, the triple of +6 with 12 seconds to go and effectively closing the door to the yellow-violet comeback.
Toronto Raptors - Oklahoma City Thunder 92-104
The Thunder continue their solitary run at the top of the league, winning in Canada at the home of the Raptors, still without Andrea Bargnani. After a balanced first fraction, Durant (22 points) and Westbrook (23) accelerate in the third quarter and never look back. Good performances also for Ibaka (19 points and 8 rebounds in the desert of the Canadian frontline) and Kevin Martin, 16 points off the bench. For Toronto there are 27 of
Miami Heat vs. Washington Wizards 99-71
The spin of the Eastern Conference ends in the most obvious way, with the great success of the defending champions of Miami on the Wizards in disarray. Day in the office for Lebron James, who scores 24 points without ever putting in fourth, helped by 20 from Allen and 14 from Wade.
Two more races in the night: the low-ranking clash between the Detroit Pistons and the Charlotte Bobcats ends with the victory, 108 to 101 of the latter, led, after an overtime, by Kemba Walker's 20 points. The Memphis Grizzlies, on the other hand, continue their run in the uptown Western Conference, setting the Phoenix Suns 92 to 81, thanks to a combined 41 points by Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph.
